This article is from page 17 of the 2006-11-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
THE Environmental Protection Agency has said that issues relating to the pumping of raw sewage into the River Fergus in Ennis should be resolved as soon as possible.
The EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement has been in contact with Clare County Council about sewage treatment problems in Ennis following last week’s Town Council admission to The Clare People that it had been dumping raw sewage into the town’s river from its pump station at Francis Street.
The council said it was forced to take the drastic action because old technology at the pumping station couldn’t cope with the town’s population growth
The facility at Francis Street is operating beyond its capacity and during heavy rainfall it automatically pumps raw sewage in to the River Fergus at the rear of several home just 100 metres away.
The EPA said it was “following up on the issue to ensure that the waste water collection system meets the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations.
“These regulations require local authorities to have collecting systems in place for urban waste water from population centres over certain sizes.”
The environment agency said however that it “notes the commitment made by the council to carry out upgrade works and would like to see this issue resolved as soon as possible. The EPA will continue to monitor the situation.”
Last week, Ennis Town Engineer Tom Tiernan admitted to The Clare People that the council had “serious problems with the pump station at Francis Street”.
“The technology there was acceptable 25 or 30 years ago but unfortunately it no longer is.
“We are not going to pretend that this is a satisfactory situation but we have not been made aware of any safety or health risk associated with it and we have explained the situation in detail to anyone who has raised it with us,” he said.
“This is not an acceptable situation but we have no alternative. There are plans for a major upgrade of the pump house at Francis Street in the Ennis/Clarecastle drainage scheme but until that has been approved and completed, this is the alternative we are left with.
“The next step is to apply to the Department to appoint consultants to commence the design stage of the project,” he said.